Bound buttonhole binding holding template

ABSTRACT

Described herein is a combined template and binding holding apparatus made of a thin flexible material and defining an elongated rectangular opening near one longitudinal end and transverse parallel slits are spaced from each end of the opening and are oriented transverse to the opening. Portions between adjacent slits are elastically deflected, and binding tapes are inserted therein and are extended across the opening. The resilient portions hold the bindings firmly positioned across the opening as the outline of the opening is traced with a sewing machine needle.

U United States Patent 1 3,575,120

[72] Inventors Patricia A. Paulson 1,693,227 11/1928 Ellis 33/111 LaJolla Fabrics 7719 Fay Ave., Poway, 2,487,926 11/1949 Hofiman 112/152Calif. 92037; 2,824,530 2/1958 Katz l12/136X Margaret J. Lahey, LaJolla, Calif. 3,331,342 7/1967 Herrmann 112/136 [21] App]. No. 807,2783,380,173 4/1968 Pasqualetti 112/136X ggff Primary Examiner-H. HamptonHunter Assignee Said Lahey assignor to said Paulson. AttorneyLittlepage,Qua1ntance, Wray & Aisenberg [54] BOUND BUTTONHOLE BINDINGHOLDING TEMPLATE 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs. [52] U.S.Cl 112/136,ABSTRACT; Described herein is a combined template and 33/190 bindingholding apparatus made of a thin flexible material and ll?- defining anelongated rectangular pening near one Fleld Search 112/ longitudinal endand transverse parallel slits are spaced from 152, 153, 137, 131, 77,65;226/196; 33/190, 174 each end of the opening and are oriented transverseto the 111, 107 opening. Portions between adjacent slits are elastically56 R f ed deflected, and binding tapes are inserted therein and are I Ig erences It extended across the opening. The resilient portions holdthe UNITED STATES PATENTS bindings firmly positioned across the openingas the outline of 1,145,244 7/1915 Hoffmann 33/190 the opening is tracedwith a sewing machine needle.

Ptented April 13, 1971 3,515,120

PATRICIA A. PAULSON MARGARET J. LAHEY a1 ya/mea C. May

itate proper WOUND BUTTONHOLE BINDING HOLDING TEMPLATE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION Bound buttonholes have long presented problems to seamstressesand clothing manufacturers. Bound buttonholes are formed in a materialin one conventional manner by medially and longitudinally folding twobinding strips. The two strips are laid parallel to each other, with thefolds pointing outwardly, and with the free longitudinal edges of thetwo strips in contact with each other. The binding strips aretemporarily held in place while the outline of a buttonhole is stitchedthrough the strips and through the base material. The strips areunfastened from their temporary holding and a buttonhole slit is cutbetween the strips, free ends of the strips are tucked through the holeand are anchored in place on the backside of the material and arepressed so that a neat looking buttonhole is formed. As alternatives,the material may be slit before adding the bindings, or single bindingswhich are double folded may be used. In the finished buttonhole, twolayers of material are apparent; the first outer layer of the basicmaterial is folded inwardly so that only the folded edge is seen, andthe folded edges of the strips are presented adjacent each other in thecenter of the buttonhole.

l-lolding binding strips while stitching buttonholes has always been oneof the major problems in forming bound buttonholes. Additionally, it hasbeen difficult to sew such buttonholes by machine, because the preciselocation of the opening in the material is occluded by the overlyingtapes. Difficulty is often encountered in construction of boundbuttonholes in properly positioning the stitches with respect to thebinding tape and with respect to the locus of the opening in the basematerial.

Known devices for holding binding tapes and forming outlines ofbuttonholes have been cumbersome to employ and have required much timefor their use. Moreover, known devices have several parts and areconstructed with thicknesses and materials which prevent theirwidespread use.

Relative expense of materials and of difficulty in assembly andpackaging are further drawbacks of known templates and binding holders.

Grooves in known devices and bands and attachments thereto prevent theuse of such devices with a wide number of conventional sewing machinesand prevent the turning and handling of the devices with other sewingmachines. Moreover, the expense of constructing the known devices fromthick materials and from several parts has prevented widespreadacceptance of such devices. The use of thick and rigid devicesnecessitates the use of separate holding elements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a buttonhole templateand binding holder in combined form, which is made out of a single flatthin piece of flexible stock. The flat thin flexible plate has anopening which is elongated, preferably rectangular, and comparable tothe size of the desired buttonhole. The opening is centered with respectto the longitudinal center of a plate. Slit means are cut in the platespaced from each longitudinal end of the opening; preferably the slitmeans are transverse to the longitudinal direction of the opening. Theslit-means may be single slits on each side of the opening, but in apreferred form the slit means comprise two parallel slits so thatbinding tapes may be passed through the slits, underlying the majorityof the plates, and overlying portions of the plates between adjacentslits and each end of the main opening. Bindings are assembled into thedevice simply by flexing the template, deflecting the portions betweenthe slits, and sliding the tapes through the slits over those portions.Thus, all of the binding including the loose ends is beneath thetemplate out of the way of the seamstress or machine operator. Theresilience of the plates squeezes the bindings in the slits as theportion between the slits tends to return to the plane of the template.To facillocation of buttonholes, templates are constructed so that thefirst slit adjacent the opening is an appropriate distance to space thebuttonhole from the edge of goods.

Parallel lines are provided on surfaces of the templates at angles tothe longitudinal direction of the opening and to the directions of theslits for aligning edges of material with the dotted lines to alignbuttonholes at angles to the edges of the material. in single usetemplates, the lines may be perforated to further enhance alignment.

Templates are constructed of thin flexible plastic or cardboard;preferably the plastics which are transparent. The templates aremarketed in kits containing four plates with openings of different sizescommensurate with sizes of the four most popular buttonholes. The platesare perfectly flat, and, in the most convenient form, they areapproximately 6%inches long by Zinches wide. in the most common size,buttonhole openings of approximately 1 inch by three-eighths inch areprovided, with the openings centered on longitudinal centerlines of thetemplates. Preferably, the openings are offset approximately one-halfinch in either direction from a longitudinal center of the device. Slitsor slashes are approximately 1 inch long. First slits are spaced aboutonehalf inch from longitudinal ends of the buttonhole opening, which isa conventionally accepted useful distance from a buttonhole to the edgeof a goods. Second slits may be positioned about one-half inch outwardfrom the first slits. When angular dotted or perforated lines areprovided, a series of parallel lines usually continues outward in theelongated end of the plate with the closest line about one-half inchfrom the opening. For convenience, scales may be provided along lateraledges on one side of the plate.

Because of the inexpensive construction and because of the use ofdisposable materials, besides being marketed in assembled kits,buttonhole templates of the present invention are enclosed inconventional pattern kits in which directions suggest the use of boundbuttonholes. In such kits, only a single plate with the appropriate holeis included, or a number of plates may be included with the proper sizeholes. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, double endedplates may have varied size buttonhole openings. In the latterembodiment, six slits arranged in three pairs are used. The centralslits are employed with either buttonhole opening.

In operation, binding strips are first constructed from the samematerial as the base material of the garment being made, or fromcomplimentary or contrasting materials. The bindings are made simply bycutting elongated strips of the material and folding the materiallongitudinally. Alternatively, the binding strips may be constructed ofsingle pieces of material with parallel folds. Binding strips areslipped into the holding slits by depressing portions of the platesbetween parallel slits and inserting the ends of the binding stripstherebetween. The strips are held with the folded edges facingoutwardly, and the template with the assembled strips is placed over thematerial in which the buttonhole is to be formed. The first slit isaligned with the edge of the material by which buttonholes are to bemade, thereby placing the template opening at the appropriate buttonholelocus. The template is on top of the binding strips, which are betweenthe template and the material, with free ends out of the way of themachine operator or seamstress. The enlarged end of the plate is pressedtoward the material with one hand of the operator, while the operatorsother hand aligns the material and plate beneath a sewing machine needleand lowers the foot of the sewing machine in place adjacent the openingin the template. The template and the underlying material are then movedby hand beneath the needle so that the needle traces along the edge ofthe template and sews through the binding strips and the basic material.Alternatively, an automatic feed may be used to move the work beneaththe moving needle. After stitching around the entire circumference ofthe opening, the thread is cut, so that the sewn bindings may be removedfrom the template simply by lifting the template from the work. Noauxiliary or preliminary steps of releasing the bindings is necessary,as the bindings which are now sewed to the material slide out of theslits upon lifting the template from the material.

One objective of this invention is the provision of a flat simplyconstructed template for the holding of binding tapes and for theoutlining of buttonholes, which template is constructed of a thin flatresilient piece of material having a buttonhole-size opening therein andhaving transverse slits spaced from longitudinal ends of the opening tohold the binding material. This invention has as another objective theprovision of a bound buttonhole template and binding holder made of asingle piece. A further objective of this invention is the provision ofa bound buttonhole template and binding holder which requires a singlestep, that of lifting the template in order to release therefrombindings which have been sewn to a material.

These and other objectives of the invention will be apparent from thisdisclosure which comprises the drawings and the specification, includingthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a plan view of a templateand binding holder of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a template showing the flexing of thetemplate and the displacement of portions of the template for theinsertion of binding tapes therein.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the template with binding tapes inserted.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation showing the lifting of the template and theautomatic release of binding tapes which have been sewn to a material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring to FIG. I, a templateholder, generally indicated by the numeral 1, is made out of a thincardboard material having an elongated rectangular shape. A rectangularopening 2 is bounded on all sides by internal walls 4 of the plate.Opening 2 is formed along the longitudinal centerline of the platemidway between lateral edges thereof and is ofiset longitudinally from acenter of the plate. Slit means 6 are spaced from longitudinal ends ofopening 2. Each slit means comprises a first slit means 8, which is nearopening 2, and a second slit means 9, which is further spaced from theopening. Between slits 8 and 9 are plate portions 10 which are depressedto receive free ends of the binding tapes. Circular openings 8 and 9'prevent carrying in outward continuation of slits 8 and 9. As shown onthe right-hand side of FIG. 1, diagonal lines 12 may be inscribed onsurfaces of the plate so that buttonholes may be constructed at an angleto the edge of a cloth which is aligned with the diagonal lines.Alternatively, the diagonal lines may be replaced by perforations, andcorners of disposable templates may be removed before constructing anglebuttonholes in a material. For convenience, scales 14 are provided alonglateral edges of surfaces of the template.

Template 1 in FIG. 2 is flexed, and portions 10 between slits 8 and 9are depressed, presenting a loop to receive free ends of binding strips16. After the binding strips are inserted, the plate is released, and asit tends to return to its plane, bindings are tightly grasped by theslits. In FIG. 3, an operator views an assembled template and bindingstrips seeing only medial portions 13 of the binding strips 16, whichappear in the buttonhole opening 2. Free ends of the strips are beneathtemplate 1, out of a position in which they might encumber the sewingoperation.

As shown in FIG. 4, after strips 18 have been sewn to cloth 20, template1 is lifted from the material, and the free ends of the binding stripspull out of slits 8 and 9 simply by the lifting motion. The bindingmaterial may be provided in elongated strips, in which case, the stripsare cut at point 22, and the free ends are pulled through the oppositeslits in the template to ready the template for use over the nextbuttonhole. After all the stitching has been accomplished, and thebindings are all in place, cuts are made through the base material toform the buttonholes, and ends of the strips are tucked into thebuttonholes and fixed to the backs of the base material,

leaving neatly finished bound buttonholes Whie the invention has beenparticularly shown and described with reference to a preferredembodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes in form and details may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. Combined bound buttonhole template and binding holding apparatuscomprising a relatively thin, flat and elongated plate constructed offlexible material having sufficient resilience to allow slightdisplacement of portions thereof from a plane of the plate, within theelastic limits of the materials so that the portions tend to return tothe plane of the plate, the plate defining an elongated buttonholeopening therein, and the plate further defining two pairs of parallelslits spaced from opposite longitudinal ends of the elongated openingand oriented transversely to an elongated direction of the opening,whereby portions of the plate adjacent the slit means are deflectedwithin the elastic limits of the plate while inserting binding tapesthrough the slits so that the tapes span the opening, and wherebyreleasing the plate tends to return the portions to the plane of theplate thereby gripping the tapes in the slits.

2. The bound buttonhole template and binding holding apparatus of claim1 wherein the slits are oriented perpendicular to an elongated directionof the opening.

3. The bound buttonhole template and binding holding apparatus of claimI wherein the opening and slits are spaced from external walls of theplate and are entirely bounded by internal walls of the plate.

4. The bound buttonhole template and binding holding apparatus of claim1 further comprising a perforation extending in a straight line acrossthe plate at an acute angle to an elongated direction of the plate andat an acute angle to an elongated direction of the opening.

5. The bound buttonhole template and binding holding apparatus of claim1 further comprising parallel interrupted straight line perforations atacute angles to an elongated direction of the plate and to an elongateddirection of the opening.

6. The bound buttonhole template and binding holding apparatus of claim1 wherein the opening is positioned closer to a first longitudinal endof the plate than to a second opposite longitudinal end of the plate.

7. The bond buttonhole template and binding holding apparatus of claim 1wherein the slits further define rounded openings in the material atlongitudinal ends of the slit means.

1. Combined bound buttonhole template and binding holding apparatuscomprising a relatively thin, flat and elongated plate constructed offlexible material having sufficient resilience to allow slightdisplacement of portions thereof from a plane of the plate, within theelastic limits of the materials so that the portions tend to return tothe plane of the plate, the plate defining an elongated buttonholeopening therein, and the plate further defining two pairs of parallelslits spaced from opposite longitudinal ends of the elongated openingand oriented transversely to an elongated direction of the opening,whereby portions of the plate adjacent the slit means are deflectedwithin the elastic limits of the plate while inserting binding tapesthrough the slits so that the tapes span the opening, and wherebyreleasing the plate tends to return the portions to the plane of theplate thereby gripping the tapes in the slits.
 2. The bound buttonholetemplate and binding holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the slits areoriented perpendicular to an elongated direction of the opening.
 3. Thebound buttonhole template and binding holding apparatus of claim 1wherein the opening and slits are spaced from external walls of theplate and are entirely bounded by internal walls of the plate.
 4. Thebound buttonhole template and binding holding apparatus of claim 1further comprising a perforation extending in a straight line across theplate at an acute angle to an elongated direction of the plate and at anacute angle to an elongated direction of the opening.
 5. The boundbuttonhole template and binding holding apparatus of claim 1 furthercomprising parallel interrupted straight line perforations at acuteangles to an elongated direction of the plate and to an elongateddirection of the opening.
 6. The bound buttonhole template and bindingholding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the opening is positioned closer toa first longitudinal end of the plate than to a second oppositelongitudinal end of the plate.
 7. The bond buttonhole template andbinding holding apparatus of claim 1 wherein the slits further definerounded openings in the material at longitudinal ends of the slit means.